Safety culture is one of the most important drivers of operational performance, yet it has historically been one of the most difficult aspects of safety to measure.
For Icelandair, understanding employee sentiment around safety was a challenge. While operational metrics such as revenue, load factor, and on-time performance were easy to track, safety culture was often assessed through discussions, observations, and operational feedback.
"We really didn't have a quantitative way of measuring it," says Jens Bjarnason, Director of Safety & Compliance at Icelandair.
Established in 1937 and operating a network that connects Europe and North America through Iceland, Icelandair sought a more structured approach to understanding how employees perceived safety across the organization.
The airline found that approach through the IATA Safety Culture Survey (I-ASC), which provides a disciplined methodology for assessing and measuring safety culture and employee sentiment.
While airlines collect extensive operational safety data, understanding how employees perceive safety can be equally important. Without a clear view of organizational culture, it can be difficult to identify trends, communicate performance, and prioritize improvement efforts.
I-ASC helps airlines move beyond assumptions by providing data-driven insights into safety culture across the organization.
Beyond measurement, Icelandair has found value in using I-ASC to communicate safety performance to senior leadership and the board. While airlines collect vast amounts of operational safety data, it can be difficult to translate that information into meaningful insights, particularly for stakeholders without an aviation background.
"One of the things you can do is use this survey as a key indicator," says Bjarnason. "Everybody understands what it is."
By providing clear, measurable insights into organizational culture, I-ASC helps airlines complement traditional safety performance indicators with a deeper understanding of how safety is experienced across the workforce.
Based on Icelandair's experience, Bjarnason encourages other airlines to take advantage of safety culture measurement as part of their broader safety management efforts.
"I would recommend this survey for all airlines and encourage every airline that is not already doing this to start taking advantage of this service."
Learn how the IATA Safety Culture Survey (I-ASC) can help your organization assess, benchmark, and strengthen safety culture through data-driven insights.
